The Wrong Issue
by librastar
Summary: Misty and Gary cross paths at Pallet Town PokeBar's Singles Night after 6 months. Why is Misty so angry with him? Could it be she's just having "issues", or does a certain issue of Pokemon Monthly have something to do with all this? T for minor swearing.


A/N: Yes you have read right, after a hiatus of SIX years, librastar is back. And hopefully back with a vengeance. Rediscovering my love for egoshipping and Pokemon after a "cooling-off period" of 6 years is invigorating; thank you to all the great ego writers out there: Lilineko, Maia's Pen, midnight-mist87 and all you GAML authors out there for inspiring me to take up the writer's pen again. It was so inspiring to see how much the egoshipping community has grown since I was last here in 2005; there used to be hardly any fics on GxM 6 years ago! I also had a lot of fun catching up on all the new Gary episodes that I had missed since 2005, and rewatching the old ones in the original series in preparation for writing again.

So here it is…my second egoshippy fic: The Wrong "Issue".

**The Wrong "Issue"**

Oh no.

It couldn't possibly be _him_.

She craned her neck a little, tiptoeing on the balls of her feet as best as her ridiculous high-heels permitted her, so as to get a better view.

In a sea of blondes, his unmistakeable cinnamon spikes stood out like a chocolate button amid a custard yolk.

Life always did deal her cards with rotten timings scribbled on them.

"Dammit!"

Misty ground her teeth in frustration, before quickly retreating into the chattering, howling and slightly drunk crowd of youngsters; lest he turn around and spot her.

Why in Arceus's name was he here- of all places in the world to be on a Saturday night?

Adjusting the soft brown leather bag she had slung over her arm, she started gently shoving her way through the noisy throng towards the side of the room furthest away from him.

"Misty!" She whirled around.

"Thank goodness, I was just about to start looking for you, you didn't answer any of my calls!" Misty grimaced a little as she flipped open her cell phone; the brown-haired young woman stared accusingly at her.

"I'm really sorry May, it was really noisy in here and I guess I got a little distracted..." she trailed off. May looked suspiciously at her.

"Misty, you're not drunk are you?"

"No! As if!"

"You didn't go make out with some random stranger or…"

"No, nothing like that! It's… it's…it's him okay! Over there! I don't know what the hell he's doing here, but he's here, I saw him! Godammit." The later part was muttered under her breath, as Misty's breath came in short pants; her cheeks flushed after her sudden outburst.

May's blue kohl-rimmed eyes widened a little upon hearing that.

"Oh! That's really uh…unexpected I guess."

"Shocking to say the least."

"So does that mean you want to go home?" Misty could hear the slight disappointment, mixed with apprehension in her tone.

She stopped to consider the question. Her first instinct upon seeing him had been to run and get out of the place as fast as she could; but Misty didn't want to be a big spoilsport and leave May alone. After all, this whole thing had been May's idea.

"Misty."

She felt May place a hand on her shoulder and looked up at her. "I can understand if you want to leave…I really thought that this would be the last place on Earth that he would turn up at. And if he makes you so uncomfortable, I really don't want to hurt you or force you to stay on my account."

Little bubbles of guilt began to well up in her heart. May had tried so hard to cheer her up these past few months, and tonight was supposed to be the night that Misty finally started taking the plunge of putting her broken heart behind her.

Until _he_ showed up.

Forcing her mouth muscles to curve upwards, Misty tried to rearrange her features into what she hoped looked like a smile and tossed her hair in what was supposed to be a non-committal way. "Aw don't worry about me May, I guess I just overreacted from shock upon seeing him here. You go and have fun, I'll be fine. With an ego the size of a Snorlax, I bet every female with half a brain will be staying a 10km radius away from him anyway, including myself." Misty shivered a little. It had come out a bit more bitter than it should have.

Mild shock was etched on May's face. "I don't know about this…"

Misty placed a reassuring hand on May's shoulder and gently chivvied her towards the crowd. "I'll be fine, trust me. I think I'll go and get a little pick-me-up at the bar, do you want anything?" May was about to open her mouth when someone stepped on her toe, causing her to hop about, squealing partly in pain and annoyance.

Misty fought her way to the bar and waited patiently in line behind a group of extremely loud, giggly and obviously drunk girls. She looked around, scanning the room quickly; her eyes narrowing at any semblance of brown spiky hair but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had gone home?

"Excuse me miss, what're you having?"

Misty blinked in surprise, she had forgotten what she was waiting in line for.

Turning to face the bartender, she found herself looking into a pair of friendly, hazel eyes.

"Oh...uh…one Vodka Coke please."

"Coming right up!"

Misty tried to hide the slight blush creeping across her cheeks. With his floppy dark hair and blinding white smile, that sure was one cute bartender.

"Here ya go, miss."

She smiled at him. "Thanks."

He winked at her. "No problem." As Misty turned to walk away, he leaned towards her and whispered, "I get off at 10," before gracing her with another wink and turning his attention to the next customer.

Feeling her cheeks flush, Misty quickly downed her drink and proceeded to join May on the dance floor.

15 or 20 minutes later, Misty flopped down on a bar stool and started fanning herself. Who knew dancing was such hot and hard work? She had lost sight of May, who had last been seen dancing with some green-haired dude.

"Hey."

She looked up. It was the bartender hottie again.

"Hey yourself," she replied, a small smile tugging at her lips. It _had_ been a long time since any cute male older than 10 had spoken to her, other than to challenge her to yet another Cascade badge gym battle.

"Fancy another drink? It's on me."

Misty giggled. "You really don't have to…"

"I'll make you _anything_ you want…"

"Well if you don't want to take him up on his _generous _offer I'd be more than happy to do so."

She didn't have to turn around to know whose voice that belonged to.

_Lugia help me._

Gary Oak stood behind her, his dark green eyes flashing with…annoyance? Jealousy?

Misty shook her head. "Gary, what…"

Ignoring her, Gary spoke to the bartender. "One JD Coke, and make it snappy!"

Misty glared at him. "You don't have to be so rude, and what do you think you're doing here anyway, barging in on MY conversation?"

He smirked at her. "Just giving him some work to do. And besides, he's supposed to be serving drinks not hitting on half-drunk redheads."

The nerve of that guy!

"Here's your drink." The bartended handed the glass to Gary, his hazel eyes narrowed. Gary coolly accepted it, returning the favour by giving him his most venomous glare.

"So," he drawled, sliding onto the empty stool next to her. "How've you been Red?" Misty got up.

"Gary Oak, get the HELL out of my sight!"

"Wha...?"

THWACK!

Gary spilt his drink as Misty gave him a thumping with the infamous Misty mallet.

"Hey what was that for?" He glared at her, Coke dripping from his expensive navy blue collared shirt.

Feeling her bottom lip starting to tremble, she turned on her heel and started to stomp away when she felt her right arm being tugged back.

A slight jolt went through her as she realised that Gary had taken her right arm hostage.

She tried to prise his fingers away from her wrist. "Let me go, you ass!"

He held firm. "Not until you tell me what your problem is."

Her stormy aqua eyes met his piercing dark-green ones.

They held eye contact for a little while before Misty wrenched her gaze away from his, feeling unnerved. There was something in his eyes that frightened her.

Gary sighed and dropped his hand from her wrist. They stood there in silence for a little while, letting the chatter around the room flow between them, masking what would surely have been an very awkward silence had they been alone.

"Misty…" His tone was pleading almost, all pretence of arrogance dropped in a heartbeat.

She shivered a little at the sound of her name coming from his lips. She slowly turned to face him again, her heart pounding furiously.

His face had an expression of helplessness that she'd never seen before, not even that time he'd lost in the Johto Silver Conference to Ash. A hint of trepidation flashed in his eyes as she willed herself to make eye contact again.

* * *

><p>He had never felt so powerless in his life.<p>

Not even that heart-breaking moment when he saw Blastoise topple to the ground, his best and last Pokemon defeated by his bitter rival's Charizard; that moment he'd seen his cherished dream of becoming the Johto Conference's champion go up in smoke; his last hope of eclipsing Ash Ketchum destroyed by Charizard's Dragon Rage.

No, not even then.

Misty's cerulean eyes were like a whirlpool, sucking him in with their depth and the intensity of her gaze. She seemed so fragile, yet so cold. Like ice.

He yearned to reach out, touch her and melt her, but her stinging surface prevented him from coming close.

He closed his eyes for a second. Tracey had been right.

"You don't expect me to just come waltzing back into your arms again now that you've decided to show up again do you? You're just as bad as Ash!"

He jumped a little at her exclamation.

"Misty, I…"

She cut across him mid-sentence. "I waited, and waited and waited for you, yet not a peep did I get out of you for 6 MONTHS. No telephone call, not even a postcard! And to top it all off, what do I see on the cover of Pokemon Monthly? A picture of you and DAWN! You BASTARD! I knew you were just too good to be true, all you wanted was to add me to your list of conquests! How many are we at now, Romeo? A thousand? Two thousand? JERK!"

Her words were like Tentacruel poison straight to his veins.

He looked at her; her beautiful eyes were brimming with tears and she looked to be on the edge of breaking down then and there. It seemed like she had waited a long time to say this.

He felt a wave of guilt engulf him.

"Misty, please just let me expl…"

She had pushed her way past him, disappearing out of the front door of the bar. A large banner with the words, "Singles Night at the Pallet PokeBar-Half Price Drinks to Help You Mingle All Night Long" was drooping over the entrance, a little torn at the edges.

Without wasting anymore time, he rushed after her.

* * *

><p>Misty dabbed her eyes fiercely as she stormed through the entrance, out into the cool, refreshing night air.<p>

The image of his shocked face kept flashing through her mind, leaving her both stricken and furious. A small part of her felt horribly guilty for having yelled at him like that while the other part felt a growing sense of self-righteousness at having put that pompous jerk in his place.

She flopped down on a low brick wall. Who was she kidding? She was still so in love with him it physically hurt to look at him. Seeing him again, the mere touch of his hand on hers…it was all just too much to handle after 6 months of non-stop crying.

"If you just give me a chance to explain…"

"Go away." The childish response rose to her lips before she could stop it.

Undeterred, Gary stepped forward in front of her and knelt to the ground. "Guess I'll just have to stoop to your level eh?" he joked feebly. A poisonous glare worthy of any Gyrados shut him up.

He sighed deeply, taking both of her hands in his. To his surprise, she didn't pull away.

"Why did you leave?" Her voice was so soft, it was almost inaudible.

"Because I had to…?"

"That's no excuse for not bothering to contact me all this time…unless of course I wasn't worth bothering with. I understand, Dawn's a much prettier girl than me." _I bet she puts out for you too_, Misty thought viciously.

"That's not true at all! Dawn and I have never been an item!" He paused for a while. "Not now, not ever. I happened to run into her on my way back from Sinnoh and as we were headed the same way, it was only courtesy to ask her to journey with me."

"Oh."

"They must have photographed us having lunch in Viridian City on the way back to Pallet Town; I swear Misty there's nothing going on between us."

"And for the record, I don't think she's prettier than you." He added as an afterthought, flushing a little.

Misty was silent; she felt a little embarrassed remembering how she had had a Primeape fit on seeing the pictures adorning every cover of December's issue of Pokemon Monthly without actually stopping to think about a possible logical explanation for it. She had been too distressed, and had flat out refused to read the article let alone see the rest of the pictures. It was foolish of her to trust gossip columns anyway, she remembered them running a feature on herself and Brock last year.

"Misty please." He gripped her hands a little tighter. "I understand if you're angry about me not communicating with you, and it was wrong of me to do that; it's just that I got so caught up in my research. I was studying wild Pokemon in the forest regions of Sinnoh and I would go days on end without seeing anyone, let alone a Pokemon Centre. Time passes so quickly; before I knew it five or six months had elapsed and Grandpa was getting ready to file a Missing Persons Report with Officer Jenny."

Misty opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come.

"And please, for the love of Arceus don't ever think that I'd fallen for someone else." He said it so softly, she wondered if she had even heard it at all.

The meaning of his words slowly sank in. _Did that mean he still…?_

He tilted her chin upwards to face his solemn face. His eyes radiated sincerity, yet Misty couldn't bring herself to trust him. She had already coped with him breaking her heart once, she didn't think she could face him doing it again.

"How do I know that you're not…" her voice cracked a little "…lying to me? That I'm not just another tick on your checklist?"

The next thing she knew, he had pulled her into a hug. She snuggled into him, savouring the warmth and security that she always felt whenever she was in his arms.

Releasing her slightly, he smiled slightly; then his countenance darkened.

"Misty, I…I have to be honest with you. I didn't know that you actually thought our…fling last summer was serious."

She felt her heart plummet. So the playboy really just had been playing with her all this time. And like any other sucker, she had fallen for his sweet words and mock sincerity. She started to pull away.

"But…" He pulled her close again. "Being away from you made me realise that you weren't just like any other girl; that you weren't just some cheap tart that was only interested in "scoring" with rich, famous handsome Gary Oak. You actually liked me for who I am...just Gary Oak."

"I came to this conclusion some time ago, but I'm afraid it's not possible to just come rushing back at every epiphany; those Turtwigs are really fast and hard to spot in the wild! But I came back at the very first opportunity I had, hoping that I wasn't too late, that I hadn't lost to Ashy-boy again."

_Wait…what was he saying? He thought I liked Ash?_

She gently punched his shoulder. "Ash was never in the picture you dimwit."

He smirked. "Oh yea? It sure looked like it in the November edition of Pokemon Monthly!"

"Hey! You know everything in there is just Pidgey crap anyway!"

His laughter resounded into the night, as Misty turned a bright red; realising the implications of what she had just said.

Still chuckling, he wrapped his arm round her shoulders. "Come on Red, why don't we go somewhere else, seeing as this party really isn't for people like you anyway?" he said, nodding towards the "Singles" banner.

"It's Misty!"

"Sure Red, look I know this great place where the two of us can…OW!"

"I'm so sorry Gary, I swear my mallet has a life of its own sometimes..."

A/N: Ta-DA! Finally done. And written in under three hours too. Please R&R, I'm feeling very productive so if you're all very nice and review, I might just post up another egoshippy fic this weekend ^^ Please be gentle, as mentioned above I haven't written anything for nearly 5 years so understandably my grammar and Pokemon facts may be a bit off; constructive criticism is much appreciated but shipping flames shall just be sent straight to the incinerator where they belong.

Until then, librastar x


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